


Set My Heart On Fire

by Eriador117



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Deathly Hallows AU, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mpreg, Sex Magic, Snarry-A-Thon16, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:20:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6607183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eriador117/pseuds/Eriador117
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snape and Harry form a reluctant and volatile truce, and Snape joins Harry on the Horcrux hunt. They end up at the Ministry in the Department of Mysteries and find themselves in what turns out to be a Room of Fertility. The room plays merry havoc with their libidos and locks them inside until they do the deed on a stone altar. Which results in Harry becoming pregnant (due to very rare fertility magic), even though he doesn’t realise it for a while. Snape finds out right before Harry has to fight Voldemort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Set My Heart On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the mods for organising everything and to the readers who enjoy all our Snarry fics. You make it worthwhile.

Scrimgeour undid the locks of his briefcase and brought out an old book with a worn and tattered cover. "To Miss Hermione Granger, a fellow seeker of knowledge, I leave my copy of _Beedle the Bard_. May she always find truth within its pages." The minister handed the book to Hermione, who glanced in surprise at Ron and Harry who were sitting either side of her on the sofa. It was clear that Hermione hadn't expected any bequest from Dumbledore at all.

Scrimgeour dived into his briefcase again and this time brought out a small silver implement, about the same size as a Muggle gas lighter. "For Mr. Ronald Weasley, I leave my Putter-Outer, so he will always have light in the dark."

Ron took the Putter-Outer from Scrimgeour with a bemused expression on his face.

"I have a letter from Professor Dumbledore, addressed to you, Harry. It is spelled sealed and can only be opened by you." Scrimgeour held out the letter to him and Harry took it, his throat aching. The same curly handwriting had been on the front of his Hogwarts letter when he finally got it. Grief sat like a stone in his chest, before it flared into anger. Dumbledore shouldn't be dead. It should be the traitor, Severus Snape.

"There are some problems with some of the late headmaster's bequests to you, Harry. He left you the Sword of Gryffindor, but that is not his to give. It is an historical artefact on loan to the school from the Ministry of Magic Department of Magical Equipment. He has also left you a Pensieve, but again that is the property of the Ministry and so cannot be given to you. Professor Dumbledore has left you a set of memories, but without a Pensieve, I doubt they will be useful to anyone. Again, they are spelled only to work for you. It seems the late headmaster became a bit paranoid in his later years." Scrimgeour gave six glass vials to Harry, the silvery mist inside swirling, as if it sought an outlet. 

"Thank you," said Harry.

"One other matter," said Scrimgeour. He lifted a handkerchief from his briefcase and then lifted out a Golden Snitch, which he then held out towards Harry. "I leave Harry Potter the Golden Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts."

Harry took the Snitch in his bare hand. Scrimgeour watched him hungrily, as if waiting for something. Nothing happened. Scrimgeour slumped back in his armchair.

"Have you any idea why Professor Dumbledore left these things to you?"

They all shook their heads. Harry suspected the memories were something to do with the Horcruxes Dumbledore had mentioned last year, but he certainly wasn't going to reveal that to the Ministry. Any Ministry which still employed Dolores Umbridge was no friend of Harry's.

"Very well, I will take my leave. If you remember anything else, or just need some advice, my door is always open."

"I'll bear that in mind," said Harry, having no intention of revealing anything to Rufus Scrimgeour.

Once he was gone, Ron and Hermione eagerly crowded around him. "What's the letter say, Harry?" asked Ron. "Is it more stuff to do with how you can defeat You-Know-Who?"

"Maybe," said Harry, his thumb toying with the red wax seal on the back of the envelope. The Hogwarts Crest stared back at him. Once he opened it, there would be no going back. Dumbledore would truly be dead. If he delayed just that little bit longer, he could be alive for just that little bit longer, at least in Harry's mind. But he was dead, wasn't he? Harry had been there that night, had seen Dumbledore begging for his life, only to have it snuffed out by Severus Snape.

"Hermione, you open it," said Harry, handing her the envelope. "You read it. I can't."

Hermione nodded and slid her thumb under the wax seal. She unfolded the letter and cleared her throat.

" _My Dearest Harry, Ron and Hermione,_

_If you are reading this, then you will know that I have gone on to that last great adventure._

_Do not grieve for me. I have had a good innings, as the Muggles say, and my death was part of a bigger plan to ensure you can defeat Voldemort._

_First of all, let me say how proud I am of all of you. You three have known terror and danger in all your years of schooling, and none of you have shied away or hid from what needed to be done. The whole Wizarding world is in danger. Harry may have already told you of the prophecy, where he must be the one to best the Dark Lord, but he needs help. No one can carry this burden alone._

_I urge you to seek out Professor Snape. Send him a Patronus message whenever you need him and he will come to you. Know this, Professor Snape was never a traitor. He's been working on the side of Light for many years, deep undercover so that the Death Eaters and Voldemort do not know his true loyalties. Look through the memories I have left you and you will know I speak the truth._

_Godspeed, Harry, and good luck._ "

"That's it? He wrote nothing else?" demanded Harry, snatching the parchment from Hermione's hand and reading it himself. "Maybe there's something in invisible ink. And how are we supposed to trust the man who murdered Dumbledore? He didn't even mention anything about how we're supposed to find the remaining Horcruxes or how to destroy them."

"A pity we can't use Dumbledore's Pensieve," said Ron. "But we can't go anywhere near Hogwarts, it's crawling with Death Eaters."

"We won't need that Pensieve," said Hermione. "We can make one."

"Make one? How do you make a Pensieve?" asked Harry.

"We need a bowl, clay or stone, not metal. Metal has too much interference for the memories. We just need to carve memory and truth runes on the outside of the bowl, say the proper incantations and we've got our own Pensieve. We learned about it in Ancient Runes. It's in last year's textbook."

"Which you've kept, haven't you?" Ron asked, hope in his voice.

"Of course I kept it, Ron. I'll go and get my book, you two find a stone bowl."

While Hermione went upstairs to her and Ginny's room, Ron and Harry headed to the kitchen and searched through the cupboards for a stone or clay bowl. The other Weasleys were out, sorting out last minute wedding preparations, and they had the Burrow to themselves.

"What about this?" asked Harry, lifting out a mortar made of granite.

"It's a bit small," said Ron, removing the pestle that was resting inside the bowl. "Mum uses it for crushing herbs."

"I don't think the size matters, we just need it to be able to hold the memories. This could work."

"Yeah, I think it'll have to do, everything else is wood, ceramic or metal. And Hermione did say stone. She knows what she's talking about." For some reason, Ron blushed after saying that.

"Ron, are you all right?"

Ron nodded absent mindedly. "Yes, why?"

"Every time you talk about Hermione you keep blushing."

"Don't say anything yet, but I've decided to ask Hermione to marry me."

Harry's eyebrows rose up into his hair. "Really? What's brought this on?" Harry knew that Ron and Hermione had been a couple for a while, but he never thought that either of them would be thinking of marriage at their age. Wasn't it a bit soon for that?

"Part of it is Bill and Fleur's wedding. I want that with Hermione. And part of it is the fact that any one of us could die tomorrow. Life's too short to hang around and not do the things that you wanted, or never got around to. But don't say anything to Hermione, I haven't asked her yet."

"My lips are sealed," said Harry, smiling and nudging Ron with his elbow. "That's great, Ron."

"What's great?" asked Hermione as she came down the stairs with a small handbag hovering in the air in front of her. Her eyes alighted on the stone mortar on the table. "Yes, that's perfect! Well done, Ron." She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Ron blushed even harder and smiled at her when Hermione pulled away. Hermione set the handbag down on the table and it clunked rather loudly for its size. "Right, let's find that Ancient Runes book." Hermione rummaged inside the bag with her left arm, which seemed to delve a lot further in than the bag could hold.

"Here it is," said Hermione, holding the book aloft like a prize-winning athlete holding a trophy. Hermione flicked through the pages and stopped on the one she needed. "Right, I just need to inscribe these runes on the bowl and then we'll be ready to view the memories."

Half an hour later, the bowl was ready for the memories to be poured in. Harry picked up the vials and noticed that each held a date. He lifted the most recent one, August of last year, and poured the silvery contents into the bowl. It swirled around like mist, hovering over it; none of it seemed to actually touch the sides or bottom.

"How do we do this? Do we all look at once?" asked Ron. "And you know what to look for if it's a false memory?"

"Yes, we all should lean our heads over the bowl and then we'll get swept up in the memories. We should all see what's in here."

Harry leaned forward, staring into the silvery depths. Beside him, he felt Ron and Hermione do the same. As always when he looked into a Pensieve, he felt as if he was falling rapidly down a long tunnel until he was no longer in the Weasleys' kitchen, but in Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. Hermione and Ron looked around them, slack-jawed in surprise as to where they'd found themselves. Harry realised that he didn't think they'd ever been in this sort of memory before.

Dumbledore was sitting in a hard-backed chair which was pulled out from behind his desk and Madam Pomfrey was kneeling on the floor in front of him. On the desk itself sat the matron's medical bag, the top open. Harry could see some bandages and some bottles of potion inside it. Madam Pomfrey moved and now Harry saw that Dumbledore's robe sleeve was pushed up to his shoulder and the dark discolouration of his skin blemished his whole arm, not just his hand, as Harry had first thought when he'd seen it last year.

"I'm sorry, Albus. There is nothing more I can do but give you some painkilling potion. I'm not equipped with dealing with curse injuries as severe as this. Have you talked to any of the Healers at St. Mungo's?"

The headmaster nodded. "They too can do nothing."

"I've sent for Severus, he's an expert on Dark Curses. He may know of a counter-curse."

There was a knock on the door as the matron finished speaking.

"Ah, that must be Severus now," said Dumbledore. "Would you send him in, please? And thank you again for all your help."

Madam Pomfrey nodded absently, stood up and closed her bag with a snap. Ron, Hermione and Harry turned as one to watch her reach the door. She stood whispering with Snape for a while, but none of them could make out the words. If Dumbledore hadn't heard, then neither could they in this memory.

Harry balled his hands into fists and wished you could interact with a memory. The traitor, the murderer stood right there. Harry wanted to throttle him, kill him so he couldn't kill anyone else in the future. Dumbledore should be alive, not him. There he stood, not a care in the world and Harry could do nothing to prevent the future.

Snape marched into the room, then stopped in the middle, his mouth agape as he saw Dumbledore's black arm. "Albus! What happened?" He sank to his knees and grasped Dumbledore's discoloured hand in his own and looked upon the headmaster with _tenderness_? No, that couldn't be right, could it? Severus hated Dumbledore. He'd killed him in cold blood, hadn't he? But seeing the two of them together, Harry was beginning to have doubts.

"I was a foolish old man, that's what happened," said Dumbledore. "I had it there in my hands. The Peverell ring. I couldn't resist trying it on. It was cursed, of course, I should have realised that Voldemort would not leave one of his Horcruxes unprotected."

"It looks like the Nox Morta Curse," said Snape. "There is no counter-curse. I'm so sorry, Albus. There isn't much I can do. I can brew a potion that will slow the progression of the curse, but it can only slow it for a time. Six months, maybe a year, that's all I can give you."

"Then let's make this year count," said Dumbledore. "You will have only a year to teach Harry all he needs to know. I know how much Voldemort wants you to be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and this year he'll get his wish."

"But the jinx?"

"Is still in force. You will have a year to teach, no more, and then you will go back to Voldemort, the most trusted member of his Death Eaters."

"And you think he's going to trust me when I have Harry Potter in my Defence class and haven't brought him before the Dark Lord?"

"He will trust you best among his Death Eaters because you'll give him something he wants even more than Harry's death. _Mine_."

"What? Albus, you can't be serious!"

"Oh, but I am Severus. I'm dying anyway, let's make it count for something. You know Draco is under orders to kill me. You kill me instead and you'll be saving not just Harry but Draco, too. You want to keep your godson out of Voldemort's clutches, don't you?"

Severus nodded, his face a mask of despair and horror. "But to kill you, Albus. I don't know if I could do such a thing. You're my dearest friend."

"And I am asking you to do this for me, Severus. As my dear friend. I know it will be difficult, you will be hated and reviled by the whole Wizarding world, but don't you see, Severus? That's what will make you so valuable an asset to Voldemort. He would never imagine you were working on our side all along. I can invoke our Unbreakable Vow, but I would rather not have to. I need you to do this, Severus. Do it for me, do it for Harry."

Snape nodded, his face paler than Harry had ever seen it. He looked like a corpse, not even a hint of colour on his lips or cheeks.

"Thank you, Severus. Things will work out, you'll see."

The silvery mists obscured Snape and Dumbledore and the trio found themselves back at the Burrow once more. All three of them stared at each other, stunned into silence. Dumbledore had _asked_ Snape to kill him. Had _requested_ it from a friend. A mercy killing, not murder at all. Snape had fooled everyone into thinking he was a traitor to the Light. Harry just hoped now that Voldemort thought the same thing. How had he got Snape so wrong? Harry thought he was a good judge of character, but perhaps not as good as he thought. Snape was on their side, Snape had been looking out for Harry, not to harm him at all.

"No one else can know about this," said Harry. "Not even your family, Ron."

"But they're in the Order, they'll know how to keep a secret."

"You trust the Order knowing about this with people like Mundungus Fletcher in it? Would you trust him with your life, Ron? With Snape's? If even a whiff of this gets back to Voldemort, he'll be a dead man. You heard Dumbledore. Snape has gone deep undercover. No one else can know about this, promise me you won't tell anyone."

"All right, all right. I promise."

* * *

Harry lay on his camp-bed, staring at the canvas of the tent above him. In another part of the tent, shielded by Silencing Charms, Ron and Hermione were sharing a bed. While Harry didn't begrudge his friends finding some solace in each other's arms, he felt a bit jealous too. Jealous that they had someone special and he didn't. He was lonely and felt lonelier each day the hunt for the Horcruxes continued. His throat and eyes ached with the tears he didn't want to shed. He wanted to be strong, strong like his parents had been when they were facing death.

Harry knew there was no guarantee that he would come out alive in any confrontation with Voldemort, but he knew he had to try anyway. Maybe that's what true courage was, feel the fear, then do the thing anyway. They'd found Slytherin's Locket, but it had been wrapped around Umbridge's neck at the time. And she was safely tucked away in the Ministry of Magic. And even if they got the locket back, they had no way of destroying the Horcrux inside it. Maybe he needed Snape's help on this after all. Harry hadn't wanted to send any message, afraid of it being intercepted and Snape's true loyalties being revealed. A Patronus message was the safest, but even that wouldn't be foolproof. He needed to see Snape, but he couldn't go to Hogwarts, it was crawling with Death Eaters these days. Snape would need to come to him.

* * *

Two days later, Snape arrived at their camp site and the four of them sat around the table discussing how best to get into the Ministry of Magic without being seen.

"Four people seems excessive. Harry and I will go," Snape declared. "There is less chance of two being caught. We need to Polyjuice into Ministry of Magic employees so we can hide in plain sight."

"You could Polyjuice into Dad and Bill," said Ron. "They're taking some time off, but if anyone asks you could just say you decided to come in for a bit."

"We'll need some of their hair," said Harry.

"Way ahead of you, mate," said Ron, as he pushed the flap aside to his and Hermione's room and rummaged through his rucksack. He returned holding aloft two combs like trophies. "I brought everyone's brush and comb from home. I thought we might need to disguise ourselves sometimes."

"Great thinking, Ron," said Hermione.

"You don't need to sound so surprised." Ron pouted as he sat back down and folded his arms across his chest.

"So in a month we can do this," said Harry. "Or..." He looked expectantly at Professor Snape,

"No need. I always keep a bottle or two on hand in case of emergencies." Snape lifted out a small glass bottle filled with grey sludge. Harry gagged, remembering the vile taste all too well. "As well as getting the locket, we need to get Gryffindor's sword. The headmaster hid the real one in the Department of Mysteries."

"The real one?" asked Hermione.

"He knew the school would be taken over by Death Eaters as soon as he died. He didn't want Gryffindor's sword to fall into the wrong hands."

"Is the sword going to help us destroy a Horcrux?" asked Harry.

"Yes!" Hermione said triumphantly. "Harry, you killed the Basilisk with Gryffindor's sword!"

"So that means the sword is imbued with basilisk venom," said Snape. "Well done, Miss Granger."

Hermione blushed at the praise and Harry found himself feeling a bit miffed that Hermione got the praise and not him. He wasn't – he wasn't jealous, was he? Feeling the butterflies in his stomach and the jolt in his chest, he realised that he was. It seemed his crush on the Half-Blood Prince hadn't really gone away, and in truth, seeing Dumbledore's memories had only made it deeper.

Snape was so brave. He risked his life every day. Had done everything in his power to keep Harry safe, despite Harry thinking he wanted to harm him in the past. Harry had been blind, had fallen for the nasty teacher act and thought Snape hated him as much as he loathed Snape. But Harry had seen the truth now and he no longer hated the man in front of him. He looked up to him, he was in awe of him, at all the things he'd done and was still doing in order to protect Harry. It was a crush, definitely, but what could ever come of it? Snape probably still saw him as nothing more than an errant student.

"Do you know where in the Department of Mysteries the headmaster hid the sword, sir?" asked Hermione.

"I'm afraid not, Miss Granger. We will just have to search the old-fashioned way."

"It's going to take a long time then," said Harry. "There are an infinite number of rooms there. We could be searching forever."

"Try and avoid the brain room," said Ron, shuddering.

"Well, you could try and avoid it," Hermione said. "But you won't know what room you'll be in until you actually open the door."

"So the sooner we get started the better." Snape held his hand out to Ron, who placed the combs in it. Hermione went to the makeshift cupboard and brought down two glasses for the Polyjuice Potion. Snape poured out an equal measure of the grey sludge in each glass. It frothed and bubbled, a stench of sulphur coming from it. Snape added a hair, one from each comb, into each glass.

"Wait!" Hermione called out just as Harry was about to drink. "Bill and Mr. Weasley are a lot taller than you, Harry. Your clothes will rip if you change now. Hang on a minute." Hermione fumbled beneath the table and brought up the handbag. "I brought extra clothes along just in case. I think I have some of the twins' clothes too, they're about the same height as Bill."

"Just how much stuff have you got in there, Hermione?" asked Ron, looking at the small handbag. 

"Undetectable expansion charm." Hermione brought out a shirt and a pair of blue jeans which she handed to Harry. "It's really useful."

"So I see," said Harry grinning as he took the clothes from her. "I'll just go and get changed then."

* * *

No one stopped them at the Ministry of Magic. A bored security wizard waved them through without even looking at their wands or even searching them. Maybe he knew Bill and Arthur Weasley by sight and knew they worked here, even if they hadn't been in for a few days.

They'd timed their arrival to coincide with lunchtime, so that a lot of the staff weren't even there and the Ministry was at its quietest. Harry gasped when he saw the new statue in the atrium. A large grey block of stone crushed people underneath: Muggles crushed under the weight of magic, Muggles in their rightful place. Rightful place if you were Voldemort and his ilk. Did the purebloods who followed him even know that Voldemort himself was a half-blood? Large letters were carved into the stone. _Magic is Might_. Harry shuddered and followed Professor Snape to the lift lobby.

As they'd hoped, it was empty of other staff and they made their way to the Department of Mysteries without incident. When they stepped out onto the black marbled floor, the doors lining the space rotated in a circle.

"How are we supposed to know which doors we've already searched?" asked Snape, although it came out sounding like Arthur Weasley.

"Way ahead of you, Professor," said Harry, glad to know something his teacher didn't. He copied Hermione's example from when they'd last been here and marked one of the doors with a glowing blue X.

"Ingenious, Potter," said Snape.

"It was Hermione's idea," he replied, unwilling to take credit for something Hermione had done. He wanted praise from Snape, yes, but for something he himself did. And hadn't the world gone mad when Harry wanted praise from Snape of all people?

The first five rooms they searched held no sword and no Horcruxes. They were small and easy to search, almost like broom cupboards. It was when they entered the sixth room that things started to go wrong.

For a start, the door sealed itself as soon as they entered the space. Both of them tried turning the handles, casting Alohomora on it, but to no avail. Then they started to change back into themselves, even though they hadn't quite been in the Ministry an hour yet.

"It must be some magic in the room itself," mused Snape. "That no disguises are allowed here."

"But where is here?" Harry asked, bending down and rolling up the legs of the jeans which were now far too large for him.

They were in a room tiled in grey marble. Light grey with a darker grey veining through it. In the middle of the room was a black granite table. No, not table, Harry realised. An altar. Four candles burned on the four corners of the altar, giving off a strange blue flame. He walked towards the altar, almost as if compelled to do it.

"There are runes etched below the altar," Harry said, as he knelt down to peer at them. He had no idea what they meant, but he just knew he _needed_ to see them. It was very important that he look at the runes.

"Potter, come away." Snape's voice sounded a long way off. "We don't know what sort of magics are in this room. Looking at strange runes might be a bad idea."

The runes in front of Harry's face shimmered and glowed, taking on a life of their own. They left the altar, their shapes glimmering red in the air, before they made straight for Harry and seemed to burn themselves onto the skin of his face. He cried out in pain and doubled over, before realising it wasn't pain they had inflicted. It was _pleasure_ , his cock instantly rock-hard and pressing against the seam of his borrowed jeans.

Snape knelt down beside him, cupping his face in his hands. "Harry, what happened? Your face – "

Snape didn't ask anything more. Instead his eyes glittered with hunger as he swooped down and pressed his lips against Harry’s in a passionate kiss. Harry moaned and wrapped his arms around Snape's neck, not letting him get away. The kiss was too good to stop. Only Snape was making no move to get away from him; instead he deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around Harry's waist and tugging them together so that there was barely a breath of air between them. They were as close as they could get without sharing the same skin, but still it wasn't enough.

Harry plucked at the buttons on Snape's shirt and pulled his mouth away. "Off! Off! You have too many clothes!"

Snape nodded and began to unbutton his shirt, his eyes never leaving Harry's as he did so. Harry took the opportunity do divest himself of his own clothing, shimmying out of his jeans and yanking the shirt above his head, not even bothering with the buttons. His skin felt too hot, too tight for his body. He saw Snape looking at his cock and Harry suddenly felt self-conscious. He had never been as big as the other boys he saw in the showers at Hogwarts and he clasped his hands in front of his groin, his face heating.

"You don't need to hide from me, Harry," Snape said softly. He removed Harry's hands, kissing each in turn. "You're beautiful. All of you is beautiful." And with that, Snape crawled towards Harry and took Harry's cock in his mouth.

"Ah! Ah! Sir, oh sir!" Harry moaned and gripped Snape's shoulders for balance as the bliss washed through him. He'd heard of it, what seventeen-year-old boy hadn't? But he'd never done it, never had it done to him, and nothing could prepare him for the intensity of it. The hot, wet heat of Snape's mouth, the tongue lapping at him like a tasty dessert, just the tiniest hint of teeth. All of his cock was enclosed and so wet, it was different to when he touched himself with a spit-slicked fist. Snape's fingers moved to fondle his balls and then moved further behind, circling his entrance, but not penetrating him. Harry felt his arse twitch with a yearning ache; he _wanted_ to be touched there. Wanted to be filled, to be split in two with Snape's cock.

Harry glanced down and saw Snape's other hand busy wanking his own cock as he was sucking Harry. Snape was excited by this, excited by sucking Harry off. Excited by _Harry_. His eyes were staring at Harry like two dark pools of polished jet. It was enough to undo him. Harry felt the telltale tingles in his sac and his cock. His lower belly jolted as he felt the orgasm start in his toes and work its way up to his cock. He yanked hard on Snape's hair, thrusting his hips into Snape's mouth. "Fuck! Oh fuck! I'm coming! I'm coming!" he wailed as he spilled himself in Snape's mouth, the pulses seeming to go on and on. His legs were threatening to give way, but still he couldn't stop coming and Snape tried to swallow it all. Some leaked out of Snape's mouth and down his chin. He licked and sucked at Harry's cock, cleaning him as a cat cleaned her kittens.

"You taste exquisite, Harry," Snape said, leaning over to kiss him with some of Harry's spend still in his mouth.

Harry moaned as they swapped his taste between them, tongues tangling, teeth clacking together as they kissed and kissed once more. It didn't take long for Harry's cock to harden again. He felt so out of control, as if he would die if Snape didn't do something soon. Vaguely in the back of his mind, he thought there was a reason why they shouldn't be doing this, but he discarded the voices. They weren't important. What was important was the man in front of him and the altar beside them.

Harry knelt down and kissed the head of Snape's cock, licking a drop of precome from the tip. "Would you like me to do that to you?" Harry asked shyly, he couldn't imagine he would be as proficient at it as Snape.

"No, Harry. I want something else from you." Snape squeezed Harry's arse, leaving no doubt as to what his intentions were, his fingers lightly tracing the crease of his arse.

"Yes. I want that too. Just – just can you go slow?" Harry hated how shaky his voice sounded. He wasn't frightened. Well, maybe just a little. He'd heard the first time hurt, for boys as well as girls.

"Ah, you've never been with a man before? You've had girlfriends in the past from what I remember."

"I – I've never been with anyone before," said Harry. "Not like that. We just kissed and stuff."

"That explains the locked door to this room. It must be some sort of sex magic. And the only way out is for the virgin sacrifice."

"You're going to have to kill me?" Harry asked, wondering why that thought didn't scare him at all.

Snape chuckled. "No, Harry. It's sex magic, not death magic. The only death involved will be a little one, I assure you. You need to sacrifice your virginity, not your life. Then and only then will the doors open once more. And we just happen to have an altar right here."

"So you'll do it then, you'll fuck me?"

Snape shook his head and Harry felt his heart fall to somewhere near his feet. "No, Harry. I'm not going to fuck you. I'm going to make love to you."

And just like that, Harry's heart was restored to its rightful place in his chest, even if it was beating rather fast. "I'd like that, sir," he whispered.

"I think it's about time you called me Severus, don't you?" He smiled at Harry and Harry felt as if he could float away to the ceiling. He'd never had a smile like that directed at him before and he revelled in it.

"I'd like that, Severus."

Severus knelt down amongst his discarded clothes until he found his wand. He cast a wordless spell across the stone altar. Harry saw something shimmering in the air, but he couldn't make out what the shape was supposed to be. The misty shape settled itself on the altar and then disappeared.

"Just a cushioning charm," said Severus. "I want you to be comfortable."

"Oh," said Harry, awed. He walked over to the altar. "How should we do this?"

"You lie down on the altar, on your back. I want to see you."

Harry nodded; he wanted it to be face to face too. He sat down on the short edge, then scooted up a bit, before lying down, his legs dangling over the edge. Severus was right, the cushioning charm was very comfortable. Harry didn't feel as though he was lying on stone at all, but on a feather mattress. His mouth was dry, his heart was beating like bird wings against his chest and his cock was hard and aching once more, standing up vertical from his groin. They were really going to do this. Harry was going to lose his virginity to Snape in a sex magic ritual, on an altar in the Department of Mysteries. Hysterical laughter bubbled out of him and he clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Sorry," he said, worried that Severus thought he was laughing at _him_. Harry was laughing at the situation they found themselves in. Nothing else in Harry's life had ever been normal, why did he think the first time he had sex would be normal?

"That's quite all right, Harry. This situation is strange, but we need to make the best of it." Severus moved to settle himself between Harry's legs, pushing Harry's legs further apart, casting a spell as he did so. Harry felt his arse suddenly slick and open and he moaned at the new sensation. "Fingers first, Harry. Tell me if I'm hurting you."

Harry was so aroused that he didn't think anything would hurt him. The only thing that would hurt was if Severus stopped now and left Harry naked and aroused on the altar. Severus' spell made his channel so slick that it didn't hurt at all when he prepared him with fingers. There was a little bit of a sting at three fingers, but it wasn't really something Harry could call _hurt_. It made him want more and he arched his hips up to meet Severus' hand, impaling himself on those fingers.

"Oh God!" Harry moaned as he wriggled and writhed with Severus' fingers inside him. "More, I need more! Please!" Harry begged and twisted on the altar. "Inside me, please! Oh, please!"

Severus' eyes darkened with lust, although how eyes already black could darken, Harry never quite figured out. Maybe it was something magical inherent in the room itself. All Harry knew was that he would surely die if Severus didn't get his cock inside him as soon as possible. He _ached_ with the want of it. He'd never felt this out of control before in his life, had never felt the arousal this sharp and this deep before.

Severus nodded and removed his fingers. He braced his hands on Harry's hips and then slid into Harry's arse with a swift forward thrust of his body. Harry cried out and his hands scrabbled against the altar as he felt himself filled with something much longer and thicker than fingers. He was seeing stars as Severus thrust against something inside him. Severus stopped moving almost at once. "Did I hurt you?" Severus asked softly.

"Not hurt," Harry said breathlessly. "Pleasure. You touched something inside."

Severus wriggled his hips and hit that spot again, making Harry buck and scream in pleasure once more. "Oh fuck!"

"I never imagined you'd be this vocal," Severus said, continuing his thrusts, and it took a while for the meaning of the words to sink in.

"You imagined this?" asked Harry, waving to encompass both of them. "You imagined _us_ doing this?"

"More times than I can count. But the reality is much better than I ever dreamed."

"I agree," replied Harry, leaning up to kiss him. After that there were few words, only harsh, ragged breaths, the slap of flesh upon flesh as they strived for the peak together. Harry was hyper aware of every sensation in his body: the air flowing in and out of his lungs, the erratic beating of his heart, the pleasure/pain as Severus pistoned in and out of him, the ache of his cock, wanting so much to come. But he'd already come once and he tried to hold back for Severus' sake.

But soon the sensations were too much, too overwhelming, too new. "I can't! I can't!" Harry wailed. "I need to come!"

"Yes!" Severus hissed, gripping Harry's hips hard enough to bruise; Harry could feel Severus' nails digging into skin. "Come for me, Harry! Let me feel you tremble around me."

Almost as if the words were permission, Harry was instantly lost on a sea of bliss, the come fountaining out of his cock with such force that some landed on his chin. He bucked and arched upwards, trying to wring as much pleasure from his orgasm as possible. Before he'd stopped coming, Severus too had reached his own climax and spilled himself inside Harry with a rush of wet warmth. Harry tugged Severus' head down and kissed him passionately as they both rode out the aftershocks.

"I don't think I can move," Harry said at last, feeling a little bereft as Severus' softening cock slipped out of him. "I think you've melted all my bones."

"That's the general idea. Are you in pain? I got a bit rough there at the end."

"I'm fine, Severus. And I loved it. You looked so intense, so _abandoned_. I've never seen you look like that before." Harry reached up and pressed a lock of hair back behind Severus' ear. "It was wonderful to see."

There was a click behind them and the door to the room opened slightly.

"Looks like the magic of the room is satisfied," said Severus.

"Not the only one," said Harry, grinning.

"I suppose we better get dressed and take some more Polyjuice. Harry Potter and Severus Snape can't be seen in the Ministry. We still need to find the sword and the locket."

Severus bent down to retrieve their clothes; he threw Harry's jeans and shirt at him before dressing in his own. Harry felt a bit lost now. Severus had turned his back and seemed to find the floor fascinating. Is that all it was going to be then? Just this once to satisfy the room's magic? Harry needed to know where he stood. He dressed quickly then touched Severus arm.

"Severus? This thing between us, it's real, isn't it? Not just the magic of the room. Or is this just a one-off?"

Severus turned and gazed at him. "What do you want it to be?"

"I want it to be more. It is more. I've waited my whole life for you, I don't want to lose you."

"You felt it too, didn't you? How _right_ it felt between us. It can't just be the magic of the room. I had feelings for you before we were ever in this room. Today just intensified them. Now that I've finally found you, I don't want to let you go. I'm not sure we're ever going to get a chance like this again. Not until the war's finished at least. There are two many risk factors involved. I can't be absent from Hogwarts too often and it's too dangerous for you to go there. I understand if you don't want to wait and wish to find someone else."

"I don't _want_ anyone else, Severus. I only want you. I'll wait for you. And this just gives me more incentive to take down the Dark Lord sooner rather than later. We have even more reason to fight now – ah!" Harry doubled over as pain washed through his abdomen.

"Harry, what is it, what's wrong?" Severus was beside him in a moment, rubbing his back in soothing circles. "I did hurt you, didn't I?"

"No, it's not that. Just a strange pain. It's gone now, though. Weird. Anyway, let's get out and find the locket and the sword."

"Indeed."

* * *

The months on the run had taken their toll. Harry felt more ill than well most days. He stumbled out of their latest camp in the dark and threw up at the base of some trees. Was it stress? Worry over finally having to face Voldemort once and for all? Was he scared of dying? On some level, yes, he was, but he knew he would go ahead and face Voldemort anyway.

They were in the mountains outside of Hogsmeade and to be so close to Hogwarts, so close to Severus, without being able to see him made Harry's heart ache. The Death Eaters were in the open now, Voldemort and his cronies had taken over the school, and for Harry to sneak in just to see Severus was complete madness. Yet, there he stood, shivering in the cold, wiping his mouth clean of vomit, and he was seriously considering it. It was reckless, insane, and at that moment Harry wanted nothing more than to have Severus put his arms around him and tell him that things were going to be all right, even if it was a lie. He wanted that pretty lie.

"Harry?" Hermione called. "Are you out here?"

"Yeah, I'm over here."

The leaves crunched underneath Hermione's feet as she made her way to him over the frost covered ground. "You've been sick again, haven't you?"

"I'm fine, Hermione," Harry protested, even though he'd felt far from fine for months now.

"Come back inside where it's warm. We need to talk."

"Okay, just give me a minute."

Hermione nodded and headed back to the tent. Harry took a deep breath, looking up at the small sliver of moon hanging low in the sky, casting everything in silver shadows. Hermione was clever, she probably knew what was wrong with Harry better than he did. Some weird Wizarding disease she'd no doubt discovered in some ancient tome. Would Harry even survive long enough to face the Dark Lord, never mind defeat him? Whatever was wrong with him could be killing him already. He gave one last glance to the moon and returned to the tent.

Hermione and Ron were seated around the fire; both glanced up when Harry entered.

"Harry, what happened between you and Professor Snape at the Department of Mysteries?" Hermione asked, diving straight in. No beating around the bush for her. "You had sex with him, didn't you?"

Ron gaped from Hermione to Harry and back again. "Hermione, way to put a man off his food! Of course Harry didn't have sex with Snape. Why would he?"

But Harry was silent for too long. "Harry, you didn't, tell me you didn't," said Ron hopefully.

"I did, Ron and I don't regret it. I'll never regret it. I love him."

Hermione nodded to herself. "Of course, the magic would only take if the two wizards were in love."

"But why would making love with Severus make me ill?" asked Harry. "Is the magic of the room poisoning me or something?"

Now this time both Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry as if he'd sprouted two heads.

"Harry, tell me you're joking," said Hermione. "Are you honestly telling me that you don't know why two people having sex can make one of them ill?"

"Well, if it's a man and a woman, the woman might be pregnant?" Harry asked hesitantly, not liking where this conversation seemed to be leading. "But I'm a bloke! Blokes don't get pregnant!"

Ron shook his head. "Weren't you there the day we had all these health lectures from Professor McGonagall? It was in third year, you haven't forgotten, have you?"

"How can I forget something I never even knew in the first place!"

"Oh, I remember now, Harry wasn't there that day. He was in the hospital wing." Hermione nudged Ron's arm. "And you never thought to tell your best friend about it?"

"I thought he would have figured it out by himself."

"Were there runes or anything else in the room?" Hermione asked.

"There were runes on the altar, but then they sort of came off and seemed to sink into my skin. It didn't hurt though." Harry blushed, remembering the rush of pleasure as the runes had disappeared into his skin.

"What did the runes look like? Can you describe them?"

"I remember them, but I can't really describe them. Do you have a piece of paper? I can try drawing them."

Hermione nodded and dived into her magical handbag and brought out a spiral-bound notebook and a ballpoint pen. "Thanks." Harry set to drawing those runes he could remember seeing. Once finished, he handed the book back to Hermione.

She turned the pages, nodding to herself. "This one is Perthro. It has a few different meanings, but it can relate to hidden meanings or occult things, initiation, future knowledge, destiny and is also associated with feminine mysteries such as fertility."

"What about the others?" asked Ron.

Hermione turned the page to show them both the next rune. "This one is Eihwaz. Again, it can have various meanings, but the main ones are protection, defence, enlightenment and that you have set your sights on a reasonable goal and that you can succeed."

Ron smiled at Harry. "Hey, that sounds like even the runes agree you can defeat Voldemort."

"And this third rune is Berkano. Birth, fertility, arousal of desire. The prospering of a venture. Renewal and new growth, the light of spring. The room you were both in, it wasn't just sex magic, it was fertility magic. That's why you got pregnant so easily."

"Hermione, you're saying I really am pregnant?" Harry could hardly believe it. It was like some weird dream.

"Not only that, but because you are pregnant is how you're going to defeat You-Know-Who. Fertility, birth, new growth, this is all Light magic. Voldemort only knows Dark. You are going to be the Light that banishes the Dark for all of us, Harry. Don't you see? This is the power _he will know not_."

Hermione's words did make sense in a weird sort of way. Harry should have realised his life was never going to be normal. It hadn't been normal up to this point, why should now be any different? He was a pregnant wizard and he was going to face off against Voldemort while still pregnant. There was only one thing they could do now.

"We're going to have to go to Hogwarts, aren't we?" asked Harry.

* * *

Voldemort's magically magnified voice stopped and it left Severus with a ringing in his ears. He was in the headmaster's office, but knew he had to go to the Forbidden Forest soon or Voldemort would wonder why his most trusted general wasn't there. Voldemort's ultimatum confused him. Had Harry somehow got into the school? Why hadn't he come to see Severus? To say Severus was worried about the boy was an understatement. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye, a slight shift in the air by one of the bookcases.

"Harry?" Severus asked. But it wasn't Harry Potter who removed the Invisibility Cloak from a pair of shoulders. "Miss Granger? Then Harry Potter was here, in the school. How did you all escape detection?"

"There's a passage from the Room of Requirement to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade."

"Ah, very clever. But where is he now?"

"He's gone to the Forest."

"By himself?" Severus was almost screeching now.

"Not exactly," said Granger. "Sir, at the Department of Mysteries. You were in a Room of Fertility."

 _Fertility?_ But that meant that the door wouldn't have unlocked unless... "Harry's pregnant? But male pregnancy is very rare. And it only happens when the two wizards involved are in love."

Harry was in love with him? Severus just thought it was the magic of the room making Harry amenable to sex with him. He never dreamed that his own feelings would be returned. Severus had held his love for Harry very close to his chest, but he suspected that Dumbledore knew. Meddling old coot.

"Yes, sir. Harry is carrying your child, a child that has both your magic and Harry's. Light and Dark. If Harry uses the Killing Curse, Voldemort will be gone forever. All the Horcruxes are destroyed. But Harry won't use it. It's too Dark for him. He'll try and disarm Voldemort instead. You need to be there, sir. You need to cast the Killing Curse on Voldemort at the same time Harry casts Expelliarmus. The baby will help join your magics and the Dark Lord will be gone."

"I very much doubt that the Dark Lord will wait around for me to cast Avada Kedavra on him, Miss Granger."

"That's why Harry told me to bring you this." She folded up the Cloak and handed it to Severus. "He won't know you're there."

"But the Dark Lord has the Elder Wand, Miss Granger. It's the most powerful wand in the world. My curse wouldn't stand a chance."

"Voldemort isn't the Master of the Wand," said Granger softly. "Draco disarmed Professor Dumbledore and Harry disarmed Draco. Harry is the Master of the Elder Wand now. It can't defeat Harry and it can't defeat you, not now you are linked to Harry through the baby. It needs both of you, Professor. Or the three of you, if we count the baby. You and Harry are in love, the baby is physical proof of that love, and Voldemort has never known love. He deals in fear and hate. Love is the power he knows not. Go to them, Professor. They've never needed you more."

* * *

Harry and Voldemort fell to the ground at the same time. Severus remained hidden beneath the Cloak, even though his instincts were screaming at him to go to Harry. To see if he was all right. Then he did hear screams. Bellatrix Lestrange screaming at the fall of her master. She sank to her knees on the forest floor and pressed her head to Voldemort's chest. "He's dead!" She wailed like a banshee, tears running down her face. "He can't be dead! He can't!"

Lucius Malfoy knelt down beside her, checked Voldemort's pulse on his neck.

"He's gone, Bella. We must get out of here before the Aurors come. And they will be coming."

"What about him?" Bella jabbed her wand in Harry's direction. "He murdered the Dark Lord!"

"Narcissa, check the boy," said Lucius.

Severus watched, his heart in his throat, as Narcissa knelt down close to Harry. Severus saw her whisper something in Harry's ear, then he saw Harry whisper back. Would Narcissa betray him now? What had they been whispering about? Why had Harry not played dead and not whispered anything?

Narcissa stood up straight. "The boy is dead."

"NO!" Hagrid screamed from the tree he was bound to.

"Right, let's get out of here." Lucius grabbed hold of Narcissa and Disapparated with a loud crack. The rest of the Death Eaters soon followed suit. Only Bellatrix was left. _Go! Go!_ Severus willed her. She stood over Harry, her wand out. " _Crucio_!" She screamed the spell at him, but there wasn't any movement from Harry, not even a twitch. Bellatrix nodded to herself, seemingly satisfied and Disapparated out of the forest.

Severus cast aside the Invisibility Cloak and rushed to Harry's side.

"You bloody traitor! Murderer!" Hagrid ranted at him, tugging uselessly on his bindings. Severus cast a Sectus spell on the ropes, leaving Hagrid to look at him stupidly.

"It's all right, Hagrid. Professor Snape is on our side," said Harry, pushing himself up.

"Harry! Yeh're alive!"

"I am. This was all planned, Hagrid. Severus was deep undercover, no one else could know. Ask Dumbledore's portrait if you don't believe me."

Hagrid shook his head, his shaggy hair flying in all directions.

"Your word is good enough for me, Harry."

* * *

_Three Weeks Later_

It turned out Harry's word was good enough for the Aurors and the Magical Law Enforcement office and the Wizengamot at Severus' trial. He got off with a small fine and was ordered to return to Hogwarts as headmaster and to co-ordinate the rebuilding of the castle, which had suffered great damage in those last days of the war.

The Malfoys had fled to the continent, probably France, and since there was no love lost between the French and British Magical Law Enforcement offices, they could probably stay there as long as they liked. Bellatrix Lestrange had been cornered by Aurors somewhere in the West Country, but she had killed herself rather than face arrest and be sent to Azkaban again, even though Dementors no longer guarded the prison.

Harry was lauded as the hero he was. Hogwarts had been inundated with reporters and well-wishers, wanting to thank Harry personally for his efforts, but Madam Pomfrey soon put a stop to all that. Harry had been in the hospital wing ever since the last battle; his magical reserves had been depleted and he was on enforced bed rest.

Today he was due out of the hospital wing and allowed to go home. But where was home now? Was Harry going to stay in the Wizarding world? Stay with Severus? Or did he want to wash his hands of it all and remain in the Muggle world? And what about the baby? Severus' stomach was in knots as different scenarios went around and around his head. He glanced in the mirror over the fireplace, checking his hair and face. Severus snorted. Here he was acting as nervous as a schoolboy on his first date, but the truth of the matter was that he _was_ nervous. He'd never felt like this about anyone before and it scared the living daylights out of him.

He made his way down from the headmaster's quarters and on to the hospital wing. Harry was the only patient; all the students and staff who'd been injured in the fighting had been transferred to St. Mungo's. By rights, Harry should have been there as well, but he'd cajoled Madam Pomfrey into letting him stay at Hogwarts. Severus smiled to himself as he pushed the infirmary door shut behind him. Harry had the knack of getting people to do what he wanted; sometimes Severus was sure there was a streak of Slytherin in the boy underneath all the Gryffindor bravado and bluster.

He turned around, his heart jolting in his chest when he saw Harry sitting fully dressed on one of the beds. Harry grinned at Severus, then bounded off the bed and ran to embrace him. "Severus! It's so wonderful to see you!" Harry clung to him like a limpet, as if he never wanted to let go of the man in his arms.

"I saw you yesterday." Severus kissed Harry's hair and Harry snuggled even closer to him.

"That was yesterday. A whole day ago."

Severus pulled back a little. "And how are you? And – and the baby?"

"We're both fine, Severus," said Harry. "I know you worry, but you don't need to. Madam Pomfrey has given us both a clean bill of health."

"Harry, we have to talk. About the future. About – about us."

"Is this where you're going to spout school rules at me and say we can't be together until I've left school? It's a bit late for that, isn't it? I'm pregnant and Madam Pomfrey says we both need to bond with the baby. I can't stay away from you for a whole year, Severus. It would be torture."

"You're – you're staying at Hogwarts? You're going to finish your education?" Severus hardly dared hope.

"Of course, where else would I go? Back to the Dursleys? Hardly. This is my home, Severus. Here with you. Or don't you want that?" There was a wobble in Harry's voice, as if he was trying not to cry.

"I want that too, Harry. I want a future with you and our baby. And as for school rules, well there are rules about teacher and student liaisons but they only apply if the student was underage. You're almost eighteen now, I don't think we need to worry about that. I'd just ask that we be discreet. No need to give the first years a heart attack."

"So no public displays of affection in the Great Hall?"

"Something like that." Severus leaned down to kiss him and got lost in the taste of Harry's mouth for a little while. "Once we're married, we can get family quarters anyway, it's not as if you'd be sneaking back to your dormitory."

"Married? You mean it?" Harry asked softly.

"I do. Would you, Harry Potter do me the honour of becoming my husband?"

"Yes, Severus, yes! The answer was always going to be yes!"

**Author's Note:**

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